Nashawena Island, MA. – August 27, 1943

January 4, 2019

Nashawena Island, Massachusetts – August 27, 1943

TBF-1 Avenger
U. S. Navy Photo

On the morning of August 27, 1943, a flight of four TBF-1 Avengers was rendezvousing over Nashawena Island off Cape Cod, as part of a torpedo tactics training flight. As the planes were getting into formation, two of them were involved in a mid-air collision.

One of the aircraft involved was Bu. No. 24125. The pilot and one of the crewmen was able to parachute safely, but the third crewman, AMM3C Roger W. Krager, (26) of Binghamton, N.Y., went down with the aircraft and was killed.

To see a photograph of AMM3c Krager, go to www.findagrave.com, see memorial #71934510.

The other aircraft involved in this accident was Bu. No. 24130. The pilot was able to parachute safely, but the two crewmen, S2c Alexander E. Sabalianskas, and ARM3c Bernard G. Manning, (20), of New York City, were killed when the aircraft crashed.